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and Their Best Films Part 2 |
(alphabetical) Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 , Part 6 |
Greatest Film Directors: These honored selections are designed as a tribute to some of the greatest directors of predominantly English-language films, with suggested or recommended Best Films or 'Must-See' Films from their filmographies. See also this site's multi-part compilation of other deserved film directors (alphabetical) - More Great Film Directors.
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Part 2 (Alphabetical Order, Unranked) |
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ROGER CORMAN 1926- Extremely Prolific King (Producer and Director) of the Independents and Classic, Tacky, Low-Budget B's (Horror and Sci-Fi) and Drive-In Movies Suggested Filmography: Swamp Women (1955), The Day the World Ended (1956), It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957), The Undead (1957), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), Sorority Girl (1957), Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), A Bucket of Blood (1959), House of Usher (1960), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Wasp Woman (1960), The Intruder (1961), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Premature Burial (1962), Tales of Terror (1962), X - The Man With the X-Ray Eyes (1963), The Haunted Palace (1963), The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Tomb of Ligeia (1965), The Wild Angels (1966), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), The Trip (1967), Bloody Mama (1970), Death Race 2000 (1975), Frankenstein Unbound (1990). |
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DAVID CRONENBERG 1943-
Suggested Filmography: Shivers/They Came From Within (1975), Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983), The Dead Zone (1983), Videodrome (1983), The Fly (1986), Dead Ringers (1988), Naked Lunch (1991), M. Butterfly (1993), Crash (1996), eXistenZ (1999), Spider (2002), A History of Violence (2005), Eastern Promises (2007), A Dangerous Method (2011), Cosmopolis (2012). |
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GEORGE CUKOR 1899-1983 Cosmopolitan, Refined "Woman's" Director During 50 Year Career
Suggested Filmography: A Bill of Divorcement (1932),
One Hour With You (1932), What Price Hollywood? (1932), Little
Women (1933), Dinner at Eight (1933), David
Copperfield (1935), Camille (1936), Romeo and
Juliet (1936), Sylvia Scarlett (1936), Holiday (1938), The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer (1938), |
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MICHAEL CURTIZ 1888-1962 Hollywood's Most Prolific, Skilled and Colorful Hungarian-born Director of the 30s and 40s
Suggested Filmography: Cabin
in the Cotton (1932), Doctor X (1932), The Kennel Murder Case (1933),
The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), Captain Blood (1935), The Charge
of the Light Brigade (1936), The Walking Dead (1936), Anthony Adverse
(1936), Kid Galahad (1937), Marked Woman (1937), |
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CECIL B. DE MILLE 1881-1959 Master Director and "Showman" of the Big Budget, Excessive Historical Epic and Religious Spectacle/Pageant
Suggested Filmography: The Squaw Man (in three versions 1914, 1918, 1931), The Cheat (1915), Joan the Woman (1916), Male and Female (1919), Forbidden Fruit (1921), The Ten Commandments (1923), The King of Kings (1927), Madam Satan (1930), The Sign of the Cross (1932), Cleopatra (1934), The Crusades (1935), The Plainsman (1936), The Buccaneer (1938), Union Pacific (1939), North West Mounted Police (1940), Reap the Wild Wind (1942), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), Unconquered (1947), Samson and Delilah (1949), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), The Ten Commandments (1956). |
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JONATHAN DEMME 1944- Hip, Critically-Admired and Mainstream Director of Quirky and Dramatic Tales in the 80s and 90s Suggested Filmography: Caged Heat (1974), Crazy Mama (1975), Last Embrace (1979), Melvin and Howard (1980), Stop Making Sense (1984), Swing Shift (1984), Something Wild (1986), Swimming to Cambodia (1987), Married to the Mob (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Beloved (1998), The Truth About Charlie (2002), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006), Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains (2007), Rachel Getting Married (2008). |
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BRIAN DE PALMA 1940- Dynamic Director of Lurid, Excessive, Psychological Thrillers/Melodramas With Hitchcock-Like Style
Suggested Filmography: Greetings (1968), Hi, Mom! (1970), Sisters (1973), Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Carrie (1976), Obsession (1976), The Fury (1978), Dressed To Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981), Scarface (1983), Body Double (1984), Wise Guys (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Casualties of War (1989), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Raising Cain (1992), Carlito's Way (1993), Mission: Impossible (1996), Snake Eyes (1998), Mission to Mars (2000), Femme Fatale (2002), The Black Dahlia (2006), Redacted (2007). |
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WALT DISNEY 1901-1966 Visionary and Producer of Major Entertainment Empire and Film Art-Animation Suggested Filmography: Steamboat Willie (1928)
(director), Flowers and Trees (1932), The Three Little Pigs (1933), |
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CLINT EASTWOOD 1930- Versatile Actor/Producer Turned Director Noted Originally as TV Actor and Star of Italian-Made "Spaghetti" Westerns
Suggested Filmography: Play Misty for Me (1971), High Plains Drifter (1972), Breezy (1973), The Eiger Sanction (1975), The Outlaw-Josey Wales (1976), The Gauntlet (1977), Bronco Billy (1980), Firefox (1982), Honkytonk Man (1982), Sudden Impact (1983), Pale Rider (1985), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Bird (1988), The Rookie (1990), White Hunter, Black Heart (1990), Unforgiven (1992), A Perfect World (1993), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Absolute Power (1997), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), True Crime (1999), Space Cowboys (2000), Mystic River (2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Changeling (2008), Gran Torino (2008), Invictus (2009), Hereafter (2010), J. Edgar (2011). |
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SERGEI EISENSTEIN 1898-1948 Russian Director of Only Seven Films - Although Highly Influential Suggested Filmography: Strike (1924), Battleship Potemkin (1925), October/10 Days That Shook the World (1927), The General Line (1929), Que Viva Mexico! (1932), Alexander Nevsky (1938), Ivan the Terrible, Part One (1944), Ivan the Terrible, Part Two (1946). |
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FEDERICO FELLINI 1920-1993 Visionary, Surrealistic Italian Screenwriter and Director Suggested Filmography: Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), The White Sheik (1952), I Vitelloni (1953), La Strada (1954), Il Bidone (1955), Nights of Cabiria (1957), La Dolce Vita (1960), 8 1/2 (1963), Juliet of the Spirits (1965), Fellini Satyricon (1969), Fellini's Roma (1972), Amarcord (1973). |
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VICTOR FLEMING 1883-1949 'Director' of Two of MGM's Greatest Films Suggested Filmography: The
Virginian (1929), Red Dust (1932), Bombshell
(1933), Treasure Island (1934), Reckless (1935), Captains
Courageous (1937), The Good Earth (1937) (uncredited), Test Pilot
(1938), |
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JOHN FORD 1894-1973 Talented, Superior, Durable and Prolific Film-maker, Master of Hollywood Westerns, Documentaries, and Irish Period Pieces
Suggested Filmography: The Secret Man (1917),
The Iron Horse (1924), The Lost Patrol (1934), The Informer (1935), The
Whole Town's Talking (1935), The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), Mary
of Scotland (1936), The Hurricane (1937), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939),
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TERRY GILLIAM 1940- Former Monty Python Team Member, Contemporary Director of Bizarre Comedy-Fantasies Suggested Filmography: And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Jabberwocky (1977), Time Bandits (1981), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Tideland (2005), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). |
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JEAN-LUC GODARD 1930- French Director, Noted as Ex-Cahiers du Cinema Critic and New Wave Filmmaker Suggested Filmography: Breathless (1959), Une Femme est une Femme (1960), Contempt (1963), Vivre sa Vie (1963), Band of Outsiders (1964), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le fou (1965), Masculin Feminin (1966), Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1966), Weekend (1967), La Chinoise (1967), Numero Deux (1975), Every Man for Himself (1980), Passion (1982), Hail Mary (1985), Nouvelle Vague (1990), In Praise of Love (2001), Notre Musique (2004). |
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D. W. GRIFFITH 1875-1948 Cinema's First Major Artist, Landmark Story-Teller and Feature Film Maker, A Pioneering Silent Film-Maker Often Considered the 'Father of Modern Filmmaking'
Suggested Filmography: The Musketeers of Pig Alley
(1912), The Girl and Her Trust (1912), Judith of Bethulia (1914), |
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HOWARD HAWKS 1896-1977 Popular, Versatile, Stylistic Director of Many Film Genres (Screwball Comedy, Film Noirs, Westerns, Gangster Films, War Movies, Literary Adaptations, etc.) During Hollywood's Golden Age in the Studio Era
Suggested Filmography: A Girl in Every Port (1928),
Hell's Angels (1930), The Dawn Patrol (1930),
The Crowd Roars (1932), Scarface: The Shame of the
Nation (1932), Twentieth Century (1934), Viva Villa! (1934), Barbary
Coast (1935), Come and Get It (1936), |
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WERNER HERZOG 1942- German Director of the New German Cinema Movement Suggested Filmography: Signs of Life (1968), Land of Silence and Darkness (1971), Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1975), Stroszek (1977), Woyzeck (1978), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), Cobra Verde (1988), Lessons in Darkness (1992), The White Diamond (2004), Grizzly Man (2005), The Wild Blue Yonder (2005), Rescue Dawn (2006), Encounters at the End of the World (2007), The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009). |
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ALFRED HITCHCOCK 1899-1980 Acknowledged British Master of Manipulative Terror and Thrillers, Widely Known as the "Master of Suspense" and Arguably the Most Imitated Director of All Time; also Host of His Own TV Mystery Series
Suggested Filmography: The Lodger (1926), Blackmail
(1929), Murder! (1930), Rich and Strange (1932), The Man Who Knew Too
Much (1934), The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935), Sabotage
(1936), Secret Agent (1936), Young and Innocent (1937), The Lady Vanishes
(1938), Jamaica Inn (1939), Foreign Correspondent (1940), |
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RON HOWARD 1954- Young Child Performer Turned Director Suggested Filmography: Night Shift (1982), Splash (1984), Cocoon (1985), Gung Ho (1986), Willow (1988), Parenthood (1989), Backdraft (1991), Far and Away (1992), The Paper (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Ransom (1996), EdTV (1999), Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), The Missing (2003), Cinderella Man (2005), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Frost/Nixon (2008), Angels & Demons (2009). |
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JOHN HUSTON 1906-1987 Legendary, Prodigious, Top-Notch American Director and Storyteller (also Actor and Scriptwriter) of Brilliantly-Crafted Films From All Genres
Suggested Filmography: |
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PETER JACKSON 1961- New Zealand-Born Director Best Known for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Suggested Filmography: Bad Taste (1987), Meet the Feebles (1989), Dead Alive (1992), Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Frighteners (1996), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), King Kong (2005), Crossing the Line (2008), The Lovely Bones (2009). |
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ELIA KAZAN 1909-2003 Controversial American Stage and Film Director of Gritty Psychological Dramas and Message Movies
Suggested Filmography: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
(1945), The Sea of Grass (1947), Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Boomerang!
(1947), Pinky (1949), Panic in the Streets (1950), |
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BUSTER KEATON 1895-1966 The Great Stone Face, Silent Comedian/Stuntman and Director Noted for Risk-taking Physical Comedy Suggested Filmography: One Week (1920), The Playhouse
(1921), The Boat (1921), Cops (1922), Our Hospitality (1923), The Three
Ages (1923), The Balloonatic (1923), The Navigator (1924), Sherlock Jr.
(1924), Go West (1925), Seven Chances (1925), Battling Butler (1926),
College (1927), |


















